


A Rope That Wears Thin

by inksheddings



Category: Loveless
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-03-31
Updated: 2007-03-31
Packaged: 2017-10-16 00:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/166285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inksheddings/pseuds/inksheddings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You can wash away blood, but guilt is a tricky bastard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rope That Wears Thin

"Soubi, get in," Ritsuka said when the water was finally warm enough.

"I'm okay. You should go home."

"Shut up. I'm not going anywhere until..."

Until all the blood was washed off Soubi's skin. Ritsuka couldn't quite bring himself to actually say that, though. It was his fault.

"It's nothing," Soubi insisted. "I don't even feel it."

"Soubi! If you don't take your clothes off right now and get in the shower I'll-"

Ritsuka wondered if he'd manage to complete a sentence without wishing his tail was long enough to wrap around his face and hide behind.

And now Soubi was _smiling_. Bastard.

"Will you be joining me, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka opened his mouth to yell one more time at his idiot of a fighter but the sight of the sticky, half-dried blood covering enough of Soubi's skin to obscure the carved letters that had let loose _so much blood_...

Taking a deep breath, Ritsuka resolutely reached out and began unbuttoning Soubi's shirt. "If that's what it takes to get you in the shower. But you're unbuttoning your own damn pants."

Ritsuka risked a glance at Soubi's face and thought for a moment that he might have actually left him speechless.

"Ritsuka, you don't have to-"

"I know that! I just... I'm never able to..."

Frustrated and worried that if they kept talking about it there wouldn't be enough hot water left for Soubi to properly clean off, Ritsuka pulled too hard on the second-to-last button and it flew off Soubi's shirt, leaving behind a tear where the button hole used to be.

"My fault," Ritsuka whispered as he couldn't make his hands let go of the shirt. "It's always my fault. I'm supposed to take the damage but you're the one who always looks like-"

"Ritsuka!"

Soubi's arms wrapped around him and pulled him close; close enough that he could smell the drying blood and that just made him want to cry. But he was fourteen and he didn't cry in front of _anybody_ , the hell with that. So he shook and he shivered and held it in, but damn it if Soubi's arms weren't warmer than any hot water could ever be and he felt himself start to relax against his will.

Gently, Soubi released him and finished taking off his own shirt. Ritsuka tensed when he felt Soubi grab hold of the bottom of his sweater.

"Ritsuka..."

Ritsuka cut him off with a firm shake of his head and he raised his arms so Soubi could easily pull his sweater off.

Once they'd finished undressing, Soubi stepped into the shower. Ritsuka made to follow him but Soubi's words stopped him.

"The blood isn't your fault. It's your gift, Ritsuka. One that makes me very happy."

Damn it, he wasn't going to cry.

"What are you saying? A _gift_?" Ritsuka asked, horrified. "Of course it's my fault! If our bond was strong enough-"

"It _is_ strong enough. Ritsuka, the stronger we are, the more I bleed. The past, Ritsuka. It's leaving me. It's leaving me with you and I welcome that."

Ritsuka looked at Soubi; watched the blood start to loosen its hold on his skin as the hot water ran down his body. He followed its progress from neck to belly to groin to thigh to foot to drain. The red turned pink and then disappeared entirely.

The past. Could it ever be so easily washed away?

"Ritsuka." Soubi reached out his hand. "If you're going to get in... please don't if it's only because you feel guilty. I don't want your guilt."

But Ritsuka _did_ feel guilty, even if maybe he actually understood what Soubi was talking about for a change.

"What _do_ you want then?" he challenged.

But Soubi didn't answer, just dropped his hand and turned around so that the water was now spraying directly onto his face. Ritsuka stared at his back, stared at the outline of faint scars and the shoulders that carried them as a prize rather than a burden and...

When Ritsuka stepped in behind Soubi and wrapped his arms around his waist, he pressed his face and a light kiss between his shoulder blades and surprised himself by not feeling even a little bit guilty.

 **END**


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